Netherlands – England

England can beat their opponents in a high scoring match

England and the Netherlands will play each other in the semi-finals of Euro 2024 on Wednesday 10 July. The pairing was predictable after the 1/8 finals set-up. Now bookmakers give a slight preference to Southgate's team, but the odds on the favourite have already soared to 2.60. The England team is definitely leading in the number of criticisms of their game. Gareth Southgate's team has faced a lot of pressure for their decision to act in a defensive style. Especially the team has come under a lot of pressure for the match against Slovakia, where they managed to save themselves only in the last attack. England won the game in extra time and then defeated Switzerland in a penalty shootout. In the meeting with the "cheesemakers" there was a certain optimism in attack. At the same time, the team again did not surpass the game of a very modest opponent. Switzerland did not have any European stars in the squad. The English, on the other hand, have astonishing statistics of some performers. For example, Phil Foden was the best player in the APL last season, but still has not had a single productive action. England have maintained their classic trend of totalling less. The national team is refusing to play top matches at this Euros. The series at the two continental tournaments has reached seven meetings. The Netherlands, on the other hand, have played a greater number of games on a total more. There was only one exception - the confrontation with France. Ronald Koeman's wards can already be proud of the semi-final, but it is still worth recognising the luck in terms of the tournament grid. The Netherlands reached this stage having beaten Poland, Romania and Turkey - not the right set of opponents to talk about global progress. The big personal story of the Euros for the Netherlands is the transformation of Cody Gakpo. The Liverpool striker has suddenly become a leader, even though he failed the season at the club. Here, Cody is the favourite in the scorer's race, having scored three goals. It could have been four, but the winning goal against Turkey was still considered an auto-goal. The 2.60 odds on England are questionable. Southgate's team has a deeper squad and the Netherlands won't close down. That will open up areas for Sak, give space to Kane. So far against England, everyone has closed down in this tournament. The passing game is nowhere near as good as Switzerland's. It is possible that the Netherlands are very overrated. The cautious nature of the game is also worth doubting. The Oranje have the worst defence of the four semi-finalists. England will definitely create regular chances. Bookmakers give a base total of two goals. This looks like an underestimation of the performance in the match.